


The Basics

by InkSilver



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Anatomy education, Early Feelings, Early Romione, F/M, Gen, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Fourth Year, Menstruation discussion, Period talk, Sex Education, Short, Short & Sweet, romione
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-29
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2019-01-26 02:13:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12546540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkSilver/pseuds/InkSilver
Summary: When Ron finds one of Hermione's tampons, she realizes just how little Ron understands about how bodies work and how people deal with them. She decides to help in the best way she knows how - giving him a book.





	The Basics

Ron spied the corner of what looked like might be some sort of candy poking out of Hermione’s bag. He picked up the small, colorfully wrapped cylinder, frowning quizzically as he realized it was _not_ candy, and turned it over and over in his hands.

“What…is this?” asked Ron when Hermione returned from grabbing an additional book from her room.

Seeing it in his hands, she snatched it back quickly. “It’s a tampon! I can’t use magic to deal with things when I’m home, so I have to resort to muggle methods,” she whispered fiercely, blushing hard.

Ron’s face grew so red, he practically glowed. “I-I didn’t know. Sorry,” he mumbled.

Calming down from her initial embarrassment, she said, “It’s alright, Ron. It’s not something I could expect you to know.”

“Yeah,” Ron replied, still immensely embarrassed. He fidgeted with his hands for a moment, with furrowed brows, as if deciding whether or not to risk adding something.

He came to a decision. “Er…How does it work? Isn’t it a bit…y’know…small?”

Hermione’s cheeks grew pink again, and she tried not to smile. She squared her shoulders, sternly reminding herself to act mature, and said, launching into lecture mode, “It’s the size it’s supposed to be. Most tampons come in plastic or cardboard applicators to assist with insertion. Tampons themselves are usually absorbent cotton sewn into cylinders with a string hanging off one end. As they absorb the blood, they expand a bit. Though, you can also use sea sponges, or these funny little cups made of silicone. But those are a bit more complicated. You leave it in for up to several hours before you have to remove it and replace it with a new one.”

“Wait. You mean you…you put that _inside you!?_ ” he yelped, a bit too loudly. Nearby Gryffindors glanced over in curiosity. Ron hunched his shoulders, the crimson of his face and ears clashing harshly with his orange hair.

Hermione looked around them, embarrassed. She waited till most everyone else in the common room had turned back to their own business before whispering, “Yes, tampons go inside the vagina to staunch the flow of menstrual blood and tissues.”

Ron looked shocked at the very idea. Hermione was surprised that Molly Weasley hadn’t covered this sort of information earlier in his life – though, knowing Ron, there was a very good chance he had simply firmly chosen not to listen.

“Look, Ron, I have a book you might find interesting. It’s a muggle book. I actually brought it to compare notes with other students with uteruses who were raised in magical homes. You could borrow it?” Hermione offered.

“Er, I dunno, ‘Mione. I’m not sure I want to know…” Ron trailed off, endlessly uncomfortable now with the topic. Plus, he rarely, if ever, actually read the books she so often dumped in his lap – unless they were about quidditch. Or chess. Though, the muggle chess strategy books she had given to him last Christmas had actually been incredibly insightful, for muggle books, anyways.

“It has lots of pictures,” she said, in a singsong voice – she knew he liked when there was at least some illustration. She had a feeling he’d quite like most of the illustrations in this book, too.

“Mm, no. Really, Hermione, it’s okay. Can we drop this?” Ron asked, wishing he could just disapparate back to Egypt or something. Anywhere but here.

“Really, Ron,” Hermione said, exasperated at his willful ignorance. “Knowing about different types of bodies will actually _help_ your chances with girls. Actually knowing what’s what and how bodies tend to work will be a mark in your favor.” Internally wincing at herself for her next comment, she eyed him up and down and said, “Goodness knows you’ll need it!”

“Hey!” he said, freckled cheeks that had begun to return to their normal shade grew warm again. “I have loads of luck with girls!”

“Really?” Hermione asked, voice sweet as pumpkin pasties. “Are they all invisible? Because _I’ve_ never seen _any_ girls fawn over you before.”

She was being harsh, but he really ought to learn at least the basics of reproductive anatomy. Hermione ignored the little voice in the back of her mind that whispered about how it would be nice if he actually knew what a clitoris was, if he ever stopped being so thick and realized she had feelings for him. She shoved those thought down deep. This was not the time, and she wasn’t even sure she actually liked him all that much in that way. And she certainly wasn’t ready to give _anyone_ her virginity, let alone this dunderhead.

Ron spluttered wordlessly in response to her taunting.

Hermione ignored him and said, “I’m giving it to your whether you like it or not. I don’t care if you read it, but you really ought to at least glance through it. You’ll be surprised how much you don’t know.”

With that, Hermione turned and headed straight to her room. In a hurry – she didn’t trust Ron not to run off while she retrieved the book – she searched through her trunk. The book was in the very bottom of her suitcase, buried under her extra toiletries and her dress robes.

She hurried back to the common room clutching the book to her chest, and was relieved to find Ron sitting at the table where they’d been working on their Transfiguration essays.

“Here,” she said as she unceremoniously shoved the book into his hands. “Just return it in a few weeks.”

Hermione tried not to laugh as Ron’s face. At first, he looked like he’d just accidentally shoved a spoon with stewed brussel sprouts into his mouth instead of one with the steak and kidney pie he’d been expecting. Then as he grudgingly leafed through the pages, his eyes grew wide and the tips of his ears grew crimson.

“ _This_ is called ‘It’s Perfectly Normal?’ In what world is a book on this- this- _topic_ normal? And these pictures!” Ron blustered, turning his body to try and hide the book from anyone else’s view – not that anyone was even looking.

“The adult world,” she answered. “Which apparently you haven’t reached yet.”

Hermione gathered her things as Ron muttered under his breath. She made out a few words, including, “outrageous,” “inappropriate,” “practically porn,” and a few others.

The young witch turned to go, then hesitated and turned back. “If it’ll make you more comfortable, here.” She whispered a charm she’d mastered just last year which would disguise the book as a plain, boring one. The new title of the book read _Magical Law Made Simple, Children’s Edition_.

“Thanks,” Ron said, grudgingly. He looked at the new cover and grimaced, “Why in Merlin’s name would I be reading a book on magical law!?”

“I don’t know, make something up!” Hermione snapped, exasperated. “But really, Ron. My parents gave me this book before I could even _read_. Grow up a little, please?” she tried to put it gently, but it still came out a little harsher than she’d meant it. “It needs a bit of updating, but otherwise it’s a very useful and insightful book.”

Hermione rolled her eyes at his doubtful expression, and headed off to the library weighed down with books and scrolls.

 ___

Three weeks later, a Hogwarts owl tapped lightly at the window of Hermione’s room. It was late, and she was reading by the light of a candle – her roommates were accustomed to this, and by tacit agreement, they all just closed their curtains when they were ready for sleep or wanted privacy.

She got up carefully, trying not to upset the various scrolls still laid out around her on the narrow bed. The owl tapped again, harder this time.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” she muttered softly.

Hermione opened the window and ducked as the owl flew into the room, carrying a large, mostly flat, rectangular parcel. It dropped what looked like a wrapped book onto the spot on the bed she’d just vacated, and flew back out through the window.

“Thank you!” she called softly out the window before closing and latching it.

Hermione unwrapped the parcel, and a note fell onto her lap. She could see the disguised cover of _It’s Perfectly Normal_ , peeking out from under the rest of the thick, brown paper.

The note read:

_Hermione,_

_I was going to give this back in person, but I don’t want to say this out loud ~~, at least not yet~~._

_I’m sorry for giving you such a hard time about this. I learned a lot from this book, and I’m sure it’ll probably really help with the whole dating thing, whenever that happens. ~~I can’t believe I didn’t kn~~ I probably should’ve listened to my Mum better when she tried to tell me about things like this, but I was too embarrassed to listen. I mean,  you’ve met her. And Fred ‘n’ George were just waiting to pounce on me to make fun of me after she tried to explain things. I could hear them giggling while I ignored her._

_Anyways, thanks. You’re a real friend._

_-Ron_

_PS ~~I’d~~ You might want to give this to Harry, too. I don’t think those horrible muggles would’ve covered this stuff with him. Just a thought. But don’t tell him I suggested it. -R_

_PPS Actually, don’t even tell him I read it. Please. -R_

Hermione smiled to herself as she read the letter a second time. She wished she could talk to him through letters more often, but he’d probably think it weird since they saw each other every day. She felt a pang each time she read the word “friend” – she liked being his friend, and a close one, but did he only see her as a _friend?_ Did he even realize she was a girl, too?

Shaking her head at her own thoughts, she set the book and letter aside. She’d try to pull Harry aside to give the book to him tomorrow. He’d probably be a bit more receptive than Ron, though probably just as embarrassed. She smiled at the thought. Then, yawning, she focused once more on _Theories of Transubstantial Transfiguration_.

**Author's Note:**

> This started off as just a fun chat idea to post on Tumblr, but then I got a little distracted and it became an actual ficlet thing. It was supposed to just be fun and embarrassing for them both (because teens so often find these things enormously embarrassing). It ended up being more about sex education, too? 
> 
> Well, I hope you like it. I've never written anything shipping Ron and Hermione before, even though I barely touch on that aspect of things in this little story.


End file.
